From: mshaw@panix.com   
      
   https://variety.com/2026/film/news/bud-cort-dead-harold-and-maude-1236659856/   
      
       Bud Cort, who personified the role of Harold in the 1971 Hal   
       Ashby classic "Harold and Maude," died Wednesday in Connecticut   
       after a long illness. He was 77.   
      
       His longtime friend Dorian Hannaway reported his death.   
      
       Cort also starred in Robert Altman's "Brewster McCloud" and   
       had roles in numerous other films and TV shows.   
      
       In "Harold and Maude," which became a beloved and enduring cult   
       classic despite a rocky start at the box office, Cort played   
       a 20-year old man obsessed by thoughts of suicide whose life   
       changes when he meets Maude, a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor   
       played by Ruth Gordon.   
      
       Born Walter Edward Cox in Rye, N.Y., he changed his name to   
       avoid confusion with character actor Wally Cox. He went to   
       school in New Rochelle, N.Y. and enjoyed going to Broadway   
       shows.   
      
       "I was only fourteen when I met Bud at the backstage door at   
       my sister's play," Roslyn Kind recalled in a statement. "He   
       was majoring in art at the time in high school. We became close   
       friends who shared our interest in entertainment. When I got   
       married, Bud and our songwriter friend, Bruce Roberts, wrote   
       a special song that was performed at the ceremony. His unique   
       spirit will always be with me."   
      
       Cort moved to Los Angeles to work in film, and was cast by   
       Altman in a small part in "MASH." Altman then selected his to   
       star in the quirky "Brewster McCloud" about a young man who   
       yearns to fly, with Sally Kellerman as a guardian angel.   
      
       "We were in the line for lunch when I spotted him," she later   
       recalled. "Although I didn't know who he was, I said 'Oh, boy.   
       We're going to be best friends.'"   
      
       His chemistry with Gordon while auditioning for the part of   
       Harold convinced Ashby and writer Colin Higgins to cast him in   
       "Harold and Maude," which has endured as a repertory screening   
       favorite for more than 50 years. He was nominated for a BAFTA   
       award as most promising newcomer and for a Golden Globe for   
       best actor in a musical or comedy.   
      
       "A young man obsessed with death falls in love with an old   
       woman obsessed with life. She dies and teaches the kid how to   
       live," Cameron Crowe described it for AFI in 2011. "And it's   
       done with music [by Cat Stevens] that scratches at your soul.   
       . . . that movie holds up -- to this minute."   
      
       His other roles included films "She Dances Alone," "Electric   
       Dreams" and "The Life Aquatic," as well as "Heat," "Dogma,"   
       "Coyote Ugly" and "Pollock."   
      
       He also voiced the character Toyman in "Superman: The Animated   
       Series," "Static Shock" and "Justic League Unlimited." He   
       co-wrote, starred in and directed the 1991 film "Ted and Venus."   
      
       In 1979, Cort narrowly survived a devastating car accident,   
       which necessitated numerous surgeries and affected his career.   
      
       He is survived by his brother Joseph Cox and his sister-in-law   
       Vickie and their daughters, Meave, Brytnn, and Jesse of Rye,   
       N.Y.; his sister Kerry Cox of Larchmont, N.Y.; his sister and   
       brother-in-law, Tracy Cox Berkman and Edward Berkman, and their   
       sons, Daniel and Peter. He is also survived by his sister,   
       Shelly Cox Dufour and brother-in-law Robert Dufour, and nieces   
       Madeline and Lucie.   
      
       A memorial will be held at a future date in Los Angeles.   
      
   --   
   Mark Shaw                                        moc TOD liamg TA wahsnm   
   ========================================================================   
                        "Anyway, we delivered the bomb."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)